With games
like Grand Theft Auto, Manhunt, Saints Row and more letting you play as some of
the more seedy elements of society, a game like Overlord seems like a sure
thing. Set in a robust fantasy universe, Overlord gives you the ability to play
as a Sauron-like evil king as he sets his minions across the countryside to
loot, plunder, and lay waste. The gameplay is a unique blend of action-RPG
gaming with a real-time strategy element in the mix as well as a clever and
funny storyline. While the game does have a few flaws here and there, it still
offers a fun and unique campaign that strategy fans and RPG fans should enjoy.
Overlord
starts you out as a corpse being dug out of the ground by a group of little
troll creatures. As their leader, they bring you back to life to restore your
evil kingdom and terrorize the countryside. However, in order to do so, you must
utilize your loyal minions, sending them off to cause disarray in ways that you
couldn’t on your own. The game’s storyline is done with a very wry sense of
humor, much like the Dungeon Keeper or MediEvil series of games. This gives the
“evil” aspect of the game a very tongue-in-cheek and lighthearted feel to it,
but is still pretty funny.
Whereas
you are a huge and intimidating force, you won’t be the one doing most of the
plundering. While you will be able to upgrade your character RPG-style with new
weapons, armor, and spell-sets, he still won’t much of the wanton destruction in
the game. Fortunately, that’s why you have minions to do the dirty work.
The use of
minions feels a lot like Pikmin, as you can sweep them around your person, and
they can usually react to many situations without your help. They will destroy
targets and enemies when you send them in that direction, and will even bring
back the spoils of battle, like gold and special items. It’s no biggie if your
minions die, as they can be easily replaced by collecting special life essence
that you gain by killing enemies.
Another
way that the game feels like Pikmin is the fact that you have a few distinct
minions at your disposal. You have the red fire minions, blue minions who can
travel through water (and resuscitate dead minions), and green minions capable
of withstanding poison. While they all won’t come into play until a bit later on
in the game’s progress, you will need to use each of them at certain points of
the game to solve some elementary puzzles.
The game
does stumble a bit though when it comes to the controls. Sometimes, the action
moves a little too fast for it’s own good, and the RTS controls become a bit
unwieldy. Whereas the PC version benefits from having the keyboard and mouse
configuration, the thumbstick controls aren’t very intuitive when the game’s
action begins to speed up.
Graphically, Overlord is a very nice looking game. The environments are bright
and colorful, and the character models look detailed. The game utilizes some
nice bloom lighting effects and the framerate stays pretty solid even in very
intense situations.
The game’s
score is pretty decent, not adding much to the game experience but not taking
anything away at the same time. The voice acting is great, though, working with
the game’s humorous script and being a joy to listen to.
Overlord
is a fun game that offers a unique take to both the action-RPG and RTS genres,
while offering a darkly humorous storyline. Plus, the game’s evil edge makes for
an added incentive for those of you out there with secret desires for
destruction.
|
|
Gameplay: 8.0
Overlord’s blend
of real-time strategy and action-RPG elements are fun to play, and the game’s
evil edge is done well. The controls can be a bit of a pain during more intense
sequences, however.
Graphics: 8.5
The graphics are
very polished, with great-looking environments and detailed character models.
The lighting effects are also very nice, and the framerate stays pretty smooth
throughout.
Sound: 8.0
The music is merely
decent, but the voice acting is great.
Difficulty: Medium
Multiplayer: 8.0
The game offers a
two-player co-op mode and a versus mode, both over Live.
Concept: 8.5
The game’s dark
humor is great, done in the same vein as other games like Dungeon Keeper and
MediEvil.
Overall: 8.0
Overlord is a fun
and original title that takes some great elements across a spectrum of genres
and applies them very well together. While not without its flaws, Overlord is
worth a look for fantasy and strategy fans.
